Conceal
by LOSE IT ALL
Summary: Detectives wonder if a sixteen-year-old jock has told the whole truth when he reports abuse in his high school. FINISHED.
1. Weird Kid

Conceal, Chapter One  
  
Hello! I'm finally back. I don't know how long it can be until I manage to add another chapter (maybe this weekend, but probably won't pick up until school ends on May 28th) but review and I'll try to get more up!  
  
Summary: Detectives wonder if a sixteen-year-old jock has told the whole truth when he reports abuse in his high school.  
  
"Arrington, Brandon," the coach called. Everyone's heads turned when Brandon didn't yell out "here". "Hey coach he was here earlier," Adam Ogletree, one of Brandon's best friends, called out. Coach Collins put an 'x' next to Brandon's name and wondered. Brandon was never absent on practice days. "He should be here," Derrick, Brandon's seventeen-year-old brother, called out. "He better not be screwin' around. We have work to do," the coach mumbled.  
  
"Nah, he wouldn't miss a practice. Something's wrong," Derrick persisted. "Arrington! Stop over-reacting. Brandon'll come, or maybe he got held late for a teacher. Arrington, Derrick-well of course you're already here," Coach Collins mumbled and checked his name off.  
  
"Beardsley, Michael. Brazen, Curtis. Chuck, Steven..." Coach Collins went through the entire role. Brandon still hadn't shown up. "A mile, you have six minutes."  
  
The team groaned but got up and began running the task of four laps. Even Collins had began to worried when shaggy-haired Brandon still hadn't shown up.  
  
When most of the team had began their third lap, Brandon finally showed up. His face was chalk-white and he was sweaty. "Arrington! Where've you been?" Brandon just shook his head. "What's wrong?" Collins asked. Brandon turned around and Collins thought he was just collecting himself. Instead, he lost it and threw up all over the track. Derrick came running over. "Brandon, what's wrong?" He demanded. The team crowded around.  
  
Brandon was lanky-around 5"9 and very skinny. He seemed even more so as the team herded around him. "Willard-Kristen. Oh, God-" Brandon threw up again. "Who are they? What's wrong?" Coach Collins demanded.  
  
Brandon fell to the ground. "Someone get-"Collins started but Brandon shook his head. "No I'm fine...I, I've got to go, though," Brandon said and stood up. "Brandon!" Derrick screamed, "don't you dare leave!"  
  
The team watched as Brandon sprinted toward the parking lot.  
  
It was a slow day, for once. Elliot Stabler and Olivia Benson were sitting at their desks, going through routine paperwork. John Munch and "Fin" were doing the same. Cragen walked up.  
  
"You know how you said it may just be a slow day?" Cragen asked. "Uh-oh," Benson mumbled. "That can't be good," Munch agreed. "What's up?" Fin asked. "There's some kid in the interrogation room. Look's really shaken up; said he saw something and doesn't know what else to do."  
  
Stabler and Benson followed Cragen to the back room, where the kid should have been. "Where is he?" Stabler asked, motioning towards the empty seat.  
  
"He was just here!" Cragen said angrily, walking towards the table. On the table was a piece of notebook paper; standard for the local students. On the paper were just a couple of initials: BMHS.  
  
"What does that stand for?" Benson wondered out loud. "I have one guess," Stabler offered. "What?"  
  
"Bert Memorial High School. My daughter goes there. If it's a kid, maybe he got scared and ditched."  
  
"Check it out. Bring back a yearbook, if they've issued them. I'm pretty sure I can identify him. If I can't, we'll check out something else." Cragen ordered.  
  
slow start, but review please 


	2. Finding Brandon

Conceal, Chapter Two  
  
Thanks for reviewing! I'm going to work on the starting a new line thing for quotes so it will hopefully be easier to read. School has ended but I'm still busy, between a lot of family drama and the such. Reviews may help quicken posts, though. Hehe :-) Oh and I'm not 100% sure on which daughter is how old so if I get Maureen and Kathryn mixed up, tell me...I'm using Maureen as the older one, and Kathryn as one in 9th grade  
  
Elliot sat in his living room when Kathryn walked in. "Hey Kathryn, have they given out yearbooks at your school yet?" he asked.  
  
"Yeah, why?"  
  
"Something involving a-"  
  
"Yeah, yeah. I know. A case at work," Kathryn finished for him and walked over to her backpack. She pulled it out and handed it to him. Anyone in particular you're looking for?" she asked, trying to help.  
  
"Nah. I didn't see him. It's for Cragen. Do you mind if I take this in tomorrow?"  
  
She shrugged. "All the teachers are being mean and won't let us sign them in class, anyways. Just bring it back."  
  
The next day, Cragen was slowly looking through the pages. "He looked older, but damn. Some of these freshman could easily pass as seniors," Cragen said, pointing to one student who had a beard and a mustache.  
  
"He's on the football team," Stabler said. "Kathryn was a cheerleader at the beginning of the year, for fall football so I went to a bunch of games. He's pretty good. He hasn't failed, either. He was fourteen when I talked to him."  
  
"Hey, I found him," Cragen said. Fin, John, Elliot and Olivia crowded around him as he pointed to one of the pictures. "Brandon Arrington."  
  
"I wonder if Kathryn knows him."  
  
"I don't know. I do know that tomorrow morning, Stabler and Benson will be taking a trip to the high school. Talk to this kid. Ask him to come down to the station if he wants to."  
  
When Elliot came home, Kathryn was talking to her friend, Kristyn by the computer. "Hey, Kathryn. Kristyn," he greeted them.  
  
"Oh! Hey, dad," Kathryn greeted him.  
  
Kristyn didn't say anything. "I've got to go," she said and quickly picked up her things.  
  
"Wait! Kristyn, where are you going?" Kathryn demanded.  
  
"Home," she called.  
  
"Wait, Kristyn," Elliot said, remembering Brandon. "Do either of you girls know Brandon Arrington?"  
  
Kristyn stopped. "I do. He's in my 4th period, geometry. Why? Is he okay?" She asked, obviously worried.  
  
"Yeah, I just wanted to see if you knew who he was. Would you by chance know what he has first period?"  
  
She shook her head. "No. I don't talk to him outside of class. I'm a freshman, he's a sophomore. He's popular, I'm...Well, yeah," she said, shrugging. She looked at her watch and hurried out the door.  
  
The next morning, Olivia and Elliot made their way to the high school. When they got to the principal's office, they waited for a few minutes, until Principal Eckerlie made his way to them.  
  
Eckerlie was a tall, wide, man. He somewhat resembled a bear. "Hello, guys. What can I do for you?" He asked.  
  
"We're here to talk to a student of yours. Brandon Arrington," Olivia explained.  
  
"Ahh. Brandon Arrington," Mr. Ecklerie commented, giving a disgusted look.  
  
"What?" Elliot asked, noticing the look.  
  
"Brandon and Derek Arrington. Football stars. Derek is also on the wrestling team. Brandon is also on the soccer team. Because of this, they escape everything. If I do say so myself, I don't appreciate the way some teachers favor some students over others. In fact, when Brandon was sent to me this morning for getting caught skipping, I sent him straight to ISS- in school suspension."  
  
"Can we talk to Brandon, please?" Olivia requested. "Sure. Wait right here."  
  
A few minutes later, Eckerlie appeared with a tall, lanky boy. He was tanned and wearing a yellow/blue striped shirt from American Eagle, and khaki shorts. "This is Brandon," Eckerlie reported.  
  
"Is there anyplace that we could talk in private?" Elliot requested. Brandon's face drained.  
  
"Sure. The library is always relatively empty," Eckerlie said sarcastically, "and if not, I can put you in a 300 room."  
  
Elliot, Olivia and Brandon ended up in room 303. The library had been packed with an English I class. Eckerlie had been shocked.  
  
"Brandon, do you remember the day before yesterday, when you came to the police department?" Elliot asked.  
  
The little color that remained in Brandon had vanished as he shook his head. "Nah, that wasn't me."  
  
"Brandon, you know it was. An officer identified you," Olivia told him softly.  
  
"No, it wasn't me. Maybe, maybe it was Derek. Or somebody. Clark Hawkins looks like me. Maybe it was him. Another school-"Brandon rattled on and on.  
  
"Brandon, we know it was you. We also think that it was for something important."  
  
For nearly five minutes, they sat in silence while Brandon composed himself, before he finally nodded. "Okay. Just...You've got to believe me."  
  
Please review :-) 


	3. Kristyn?

Conceal, Chapter Three  
  
Thanks for the great reviews. Please keep reviewing! Oh and thanks for correcting me! I always do that, hehe. I'll use Derek , because that's easier. And definitely sorry about saying Kathryn instead of Kathleen- should've known that one, meep! Anyway, further in the chapter you'll see a name spelled "Dava". It's not said 'Dah-vuh', it's 'Day-vuh'.  
  
Brandon took a deep breath before he continued.  
  
"It was right before practice, that day I came to the station. I was suppose to be there, but I thought maybe I had left my bag in geometry. Ms. Watson, our teacher, wasn't there today, but Mr. Maher was. He's a substitute, but like, he's always at our school. He's the school-wide stand in. If no one needs a substitute, he does stuff in the office, like make announcements between periods, stuff like that.  
  
Well I was walking towards there and I heard some kid crying. She kept saying "stop, please, stop!" over and over again. I looked in and it was dark and it looked like..." he couldn't go on and he put his head on his arms on top of the table, his body racking from sobs.  
  
"Go on," Olivia said softly. "It looked like he was raping her. I know her. She's in my 4th period, and she's only 14-God, she's only fourteen. I saw her try to elbow him but he just hit her and didn't stop. She was trying to fight, but he wouldn't stop. I didn't know what to do. I just hit the door really hard, thinking maybe he'd...Maybe he'd stop, maybe he'd think someone had seen them. But I hid and looked back in and he hadn't so I just ran to practice."  
  
"You didn't tell anyone? At practice?" Elliot demanded.  
  
"No! I didn't know what to do! I couldn't even talk. I tried to do the laps but I just threw up. My brother was there and he was trying to get me to calm down, to tell what was wrong and then Coach was there and I just ran here. I didn't know what else to do! I couldn't talk about it, though. It was one of those things, that I couldn't say. I don't like saying that word. I grew up and my parents never cared about things like that. They never taught us that people touching kids was bad. When something on the news came up, they just ignored it. I was never told anything about it! So I left. She was in class yesterday and she looked horrible. It was so weird, seeing her. She was joking and stuff but just acting weird."  
  
"Brandon, did you recognize the guy that was raping her? Was it Mr. Maher?" Olivia asked.  
  
Brandon shook his head. "No. I didn't recognize him but it wasn't Mr. Maher."  
  
"Brandon, think hard. You said it was dark. Are you sure it wasn't him?"  
  
"I'm sure, damnit! Mr. Maher is black. This guy was white. This guy was younger. I've seen him around school, I think. I don't know."  
  
"What was the student's name? What was the girl's name?"  
  
"Kristyn."  
  
"Last name?"  
  
"I don't know. Most people in the class that know her just call her Freshman. Dava and some girl named Stephanie started calling her that when they got to know her, because she was the only freshman they knew, I guess. There's only 3 freshmen in that class. I don't pay attention in class, really. The only time they do role call is at the very beginning and when substitutes are here. I know she's the name after mine, alphabetically. So it starts with an A or a B. It has a weird spelling. It's Y-N, not I or E-N. That's all I know. Sorry," he said apologetically.  
  
"No, Brandon, don't apologize. You've helped a lot," Elliot said.  
  
"Look, can I go now?" Brandon asked.  
  
"Yeah, sure. We may have to talk to you later, though."  
  
Brandon just nodded and walked off.  
  
"Well." Elliot said and shook his head. "What?"  
  
"It never ceases to amaze me the kind of bastards we have out there," he muttered.  
  
When Elliot came home that day around 4:30, everyone in the house was surprised. The twins were playing in their room. Maureen was out with a friend, and Kathleen was at the computer, with Kristyn, again.  
  
"Hey, girls," he said. "Hey, dad," Kathleen answered. "Hi, Mr. Stabler," Kristyn mumbled.  
  
"Working on a school project?"  
  
Kathleen nodded. "World geography. We have the most boring teacher, and now that it's the end of the year he's trying to pile all these projects on us. We're researching Turkey. The country," she added.  
  
"Eh, yeah. Did Dickey think the food?"  
  
Kathleen nodded. "Yeah. The genius asked if we were going to bring a live turkey home."  
  
"He's only eight," Elliot pointed out.  
  
"I hope I wasn't that stupid when I was eight!"  
  
Elliot sighed and sat on the couch. "So how was school, girls?"  
  
"Fine," they both answered. "Hey, what about that kid you were looking for yesterday? Did you find him?" Kathleen asked.  
  
"Oh, yeah, we talked to him."  
  
Then something clicked in his head and Elliot looked at Kristyn. She was staring at the computer screen, not really paying attention. Her arms were lined with bruises.  
  
"Kristyn, you said you were in Brandon's fourth period, right?" Kristyn just nodded. "Geometry? Ms. Watson?"  
  
"Geez, dad, why are you giving her the third degree?" Kathleen demanded.  
  
Elliot didn't answer. The two girls turned to the computer again, writing down stuff. "Oh, God," he mumbled. "What?" Kathleen exclaimed. "You're acting really weird, even for you!"  
  
"I've got to call Olivia," he mumbled and left the room. "I've got to go," Kristyn said quickly. "What? Why? Did he scare you? Don't worry, he's psycho when he comes back from work. Takes him an hour or so to get normal. Well, normal for him," Kathleen said.  
  
"No, I've just got to watch Eric. You know, my little brother?"  
  
"Well what about your older brother? Aaron?"  
  
"Football practice."  
  
"Aw, alright. This weekend, we've got to finish this up."  
  
Elliot called Olivia, excited.  
  
"Yeah?" She asked.  
  
"Liv! Guess what? I know what Kristyn Brandon was talking about. She's Kathleen's friend."  
  
"How do you know, Elliot? Eckerlie said there were nearly a dozen Kristin's in that school."  
  
"Yeah, but only one with that spelling. She's in his 4th period. She's a freshman. There aren't any other Kristyn's in that class."  
  
"Elliot, I don't know..."  
  
Kathleen showed up at the door. "Kath, what's Kristyn's last name?"  
  
"Clark. Why?"  
  
"Kristyn Clark. I'm sure of it."  
  
"Well, I guess we'll tell Cragen tomorrow..."  
  
"Okay. Bye, 'Liv."  
  
"Bye, Elliot."  
  
"Why do you want to know her last name? Why were you questioning her in there? Don't bring her into one of your psycho investigations, dad," Kathleen exclaimed, her voice rising.  
  
"Has Kristyn told you anything? Anything bad happen to her?"  
  
"Dad! No! She doesn't talk anymore. At all. She's always quiet now. She hates being around guy teachers. It's annoying sometimes. She wants me to ask him all the questions. Then whenever you come in, she's got to leave. Does this have anything to do with Brandon? Did he hurt her?"  
  
"Kath, you know I can't-"  
  
"I know. Tell anything about it. But you're asking me, and it's MY friend."  
  
"Brandon just told us something. We're going to need to ask her some questions. We might be at your school again tomorrow."  
  
"Oh, geez, dad, just don't come into our second period. That'd be to embarrassing."  
  
Please review! 


	4. Confession

Conceal, Chapter Four  
  
I start school MONDAY so I don't know how often the updates will come after that. I was hoping to finish this story up by the time I started school. I'm updating all my ongoing stories tonight/tomorrow though and hopefully a couple more times for a few until then. Besides this one I have four others going on, and I'm not going to start up any more until these are wrapped up. I don't think this will have TO many more chapters so I may finish this one first.  
  
Elliot walked into the station the next morning with a cup of coffee and a bagel for Munch. He had called at 6:30 in the morning, "innocently" asking when his favorite partner was going to be coming in.  
  
Elliot threw the bag at Munch. He was definately not a morning person. "Don't ever call me at 6:30 in the morning again," he snapped.  
  
"What, none for me? I called at 6 but no one answered," Finn explained. "Well, at 6:40 I wake up to get the kids ready, so I'm already in semi-mode by 6:30. What posessed you to call me before the sun comes up?"  
  
Finn patted his stomach. "Hunger, man."  
  
Olivia followed Elliot. "Have you talked to Cragen yet?" Olivia asked.  
  
"No, I got here a few minutes ago."  
  
"Right. So is there anything new on Brandon?"  
  
Finn shrugged and tossed a file on the desk. "Regular kid stuff. He's a sophomore, of course. Has an older brother, Derek. A younger sister, in the first grade, named Kayla. Parents are divorced. Relatively well-off. Not in much trouble, just ISS and stuff. He's an athlete...Last year he was on the football, soccer, baseball and track teams. Pretty damn good, too."  
  
"Sketchy. But it's just normal."  
  
"Why are we digging up dirt on him, anyways?" Finn asked. "He told us what he knew."  
  
"Well, I find it a little suspicious that this teacher that was substituting him that same day, yet he couldn't recall what the guy looked like or what his name was," Munch said, looking over his glasses.  
  
Finn shrugged. "I never knew what my substitutes names were. Poor people, they were either trying to keep us from killing eachother or wearing ear plugs and reading People."  
  
"I don't know. Something about him bothers me, though. I don't think we're getting the complete truth," Munch stated.  
  
"I don't, either, but I don't think a school file or whatever is going to reveal whatever it is. Or even help."  
  
There was a moment of silence and then Cragen called Elliot and Olivia from his office.  
  
"Olivia said you think you may know who the girl Arrington was talking about is?"  
  
Elliot and Olivia sat down as Cragen sat behind his desk.  
  
"Uh, yeah. This girl that my daughter Kathleen has over a lot. Her name is Kristyn Clark. Freshman, in Brandon's 4th period geometry class. She was over yesterday, working on a project for geography with Kath. Her arms had a lot of bruises on them, lined up. And Kathleen said that she doesn't like guy teachers, and has been acting really weird lately," Elliot explained.  
  
"Sounds good enough to me. Visit the school, after school though. I don't want to disrupt her routine any more than needed."  
  
At 3:30, Elliot and Olivia sat on the steps in front of the school. They had already gotten permission to talk to Kristin from the principal.  
  
They waited ten minutes while students filed out of the building, some taking slow and deliberate steps and others running down and greeting friends. "I never got the appeal of getting out of school," Elliot admitted. "Unless it was a sport season that I was into, I had nothing to do. And God forbid we do any homework."  
  
Kathleen and Kristin were some of the last to emerge from the building. "Dad?!" Kathleen exclaimed.  
  
"Surprise," Elliot replied.  
  
"Well at least you didn't come during second period," Kathleen mumbled.  
  
Olivia noticed that Kristin had started to creep away. She nudged Elliot who called out Kristin's name. Without looking back, she broke out in a run.  
  
Elliot quickly gained on her, though.  
  
"Okay, I did it! I had to, he was gonna do it again! Don't hurt me, please. I'll tell you everything, just don't hurt me..." Kristin exclaimed as Elliot grabbed her shoulder.  
  
Kathleen and Olivia ran up, despite Olivia's order to Kathleen that she stay there.  
  
"What'd you do?" Elliot asked.  
  
"My dad...I'm sorry! He was coming at me again and I didn't do what to do. I grabbed the gun. I'm sorry!"  
  
Elliot quickly dropped her shoulder and Olivia stared at her.  
  
"You killed your dad?" Kathleen exclaimed.  
  
PLease review! Thanks for ALL the reviews! Believe me, guys, this isn't what it looks like from chapter 3 (an open-shut-case). I think there's only going to be 2 or 3 more chapters, 4 at tops. Enjoy! 


	5. TruthKinda

Conceal, Chapter Five  
  
See, those updates weren't to far behind weren't they? Hehe after this I need to update my sites. Blah. I'm excited, can't you tell? Please review! Oh and sorry about the mix-up with the spellings of the names. My name is Kristyn and that's how I was going to spell it but in another one of my stories the kid's name is Kristin. I'll try to stick to Kristyn now!  
  
A group of students turned to their direction and Elliot gave Kathleen a Look. "Kath! Go home, okay? Tell your mom I may be late," he ordered.  
  
"I want to go, dad, she's my friend!"  
  
"No. You know the answer. This is work."  
  
"Everything's work! But maybe Kristyn wants me to go!"  
  
Elliot sighed and looked at Kristyn. "Please?" She asked with a small voice.  
  
!-at Kristyn's residence  
  
John and Fin had been given orders to go to Kristyn's home and check out if her claim was true. Three policemen were on stand-by. As they walked up the stairs to the number of her apartment, they saw two boys. One was older, around 16, and one was much younger, around 5 or 6. "Who are you guys?" John asked.  
  
"Who are you?" The little boy asked. His dark brown hair was unkept but clean; his bangs nearly completely covered his green eyes.  
  
"We asked you first," Fin said, trying to relate to the kid.  
  
"We can't talk to strangers."  
  
"I'm a policeman. Did your mom or dad ever tell you about us?" The little boy nodded.  
  
"I'm Eric. And this is my brother Aaron. We have a sister, too. Kristyn. But she's not here."  
  
John looked at Fin. Kristyn's brothers. "Why are you standing out here?"  
  
The older boy, who also had dark brown hair and was wearing a football jersey, finally spoke up. "Kristyn is the only one with a key, because Aaron comes at the same time she does and I usually come after, but practice was cancelled today. And she's not here. Dad's not answering, even though he wasn't suppose to work. The car is still here."  
  
John looked at Fin again. "Hey, guys I want you to go downstairs, okay? There's a police car down there. He'll give you something to drink. We're just gonna check up on things down here," Fin told them. The two headed downstairs; but what John and Fin didn't notice is that Aaron only went halfway. He hid behind the rail of the last stair landing.  
  
John knocked on the door. When no one answered he kicked it open and sat bloody footsteps. "Well," John said bitterly. They headed throughout the house and found a man, face-down on the ground in a pool of blood.  
  
"Dad!" They heard a voice scream.  
  
!-at the station  
  
Kristyn, Elliot and Olivia sat in the interrogation room while John, Cragen, and Fin looked on. Kathleen was sitting at a desk messing around with a computer.  
  
"Kristyn, start from the beginning," Olivia told her.  
  
She was silent for awhile, messing with her thumbs. She took a big drink from the bottled water that had been supplied but didn't start talking.  
  
"Kristyn," Elliot said sternly. "Okay!" She snapped back.  
  
"My dad...He's a great guy, okay? He really is. He loves us, me and my brothers? He really does. The job's just really stressful. You know how it is. He gets home really late and then has to shovel out money for Aar's practice equipment every season."  
  
Olivia and Elliot nodded, encouraging her to go on.  
  
"Sometimes he just sort of misses our mom, I guess. She left after Eric was born. She's suppose to visit us a lot and says that she's gonna get back together with dad, but we haven't heard from her for six months or so. One time he...He came into my room and started trying to get into my bed. He told me that he missed mom but I looked a lot like her...He did that for awhile."  
  
"He molested you?" Elliot asked. He had known Kristyn for a little over a year and knew that her mother didn't live with them. He sort of blamed himself for not noticing any change at all in her behavior...  
  
She just nodded. "Then a couple of weeks ago he didn't just...Touch me. He made me sort of, you know. He r-raped me. Then he did it again a couple of days ago. He came to do it this morning after my brothers had left. He told me that I wasn't going to school today and that's why he didn't wake me up. He was getting closer to me and I was trying to get all my books and stuff so I could run to school, because there was no way I was staying home. He grabbed at my arm and I think he was drunk."  
  
She stopped and started crying, the tears running down her cheeks as she recounted that morning.  
  
"And I couldn't take it anymore. I couldn't do that anymore. I saw his gun and I grabbed it and pointed it. I hadn't ever even touched a gun before, and he knew it. He just laughed and taunted me, asking me where the bullets were. I finally just cocked it and shot. I shot him in the head and then in the chest twice. And I just changed clothes and left for school, like it was nothing. I was relieved."  
  
Cragen rapped on the window and Elliot and Olivia emerged from the room.  
  
"Her story checks out. Their father is dead; shot 3 times," John explained.  
  
"What about her brothers?" Olivia asked.  
  
"They were standing outside the door. We told them to go downstairs. We told them," Fin said, shaking his head.  
  
"The little one did but the older kid must've hid or something. We walked into the house and found the guy's body and heard Aaron scream."  
  
Elliot shook his head. "Poor kids. Their father, their mother, their sister..."  
  
"Oh come on, Elliot. This is clearly self-defense," Olivia exclaimed.  
  
"I know that, and you know that. But a jury is more likely to see a highly respected single father that was shot dead by his kid, who then left for school and didn't show any emotion throughout the day, than the fact that this 'man' raped his daughter."  
  
"Go ask her about the teacher," Cragen said suddenly.  
  
"Why?" They asked.  
  
"Brandon said that he saw her getting raped by a substitute teacher. She never once said anything about a teacher."  
  
Elliot and Olivia went back into the room. "Kristyn, we know this is hard for you but we need to ask you a question. Is your father the only one who ever...Raped you?" Olivia asked softly.  
  
Kristyn nodded.  
  
"A teacher didn't rape you? In the past week or so?" Elliot said, point-blank.  
  
"No. Just my dad."  
  
"Thanks, Kristyn."  
  
Elliot and Olivia returned to the group. "I think she's telling the truth."  
  
"So, essentially, we're back to square one."  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"Brandon said that he saw a student getting raped and he was sure it was Kristyn. Obviously, it wasn't. So we need to find out who it was, or if Brandon's been bull-shitting us."  
  
Please reivew! 


	6. Brandon and Coach

Conceal, Chapter Six

I finished up my Higher Ground story so I'll try to update this one more often. Please review. It may be a little annoying me going !-location, but that's because FF deletes my dividers so you can't tell where a scene stops. Please review!

!-At the Stabler residence

Elliot went home that night exasperated. One of his daughter's best friends was on trial for murder; a self-defense murder, but murder all the same. And they still had an unsolved rape, or at least a kid not telling the truth.

Kathleen walked up to her dad, who was sitting on the computer. "Dad?" She said, her voice breaking. Elliot took one look at her and enclosed her in a tight hug. "It'll be okay, Kath. Kristyn will be fine," he said, reassuring both himself and his daughter.

"She's up for murder, dad. I'm not stupid. I read about your cases in the newspaper. Even kids go to prison!" Kathleen exclaimed. "If he hadn't been doing those things to her, she wouldn't have done it. How can she go to jail for trying to protect herself?" She asked, although Elliot was sure if it was to him or if she was wondering out loud.

"Hopefully that's how the jury will see it."

"But what if they don't, dad? What about Aaron and Eric? How can they send a kid to prison for shooting someone if they were coming to rape them? If it were just on the streets or her dad was some known sleeze then it wouldn't matter!" Kathleen exclaimed, frusterated and anguished.

"Go to bed, Kath. It's been a long day," Elliot told her. She sighed a shaky sigh and hugged him good night. "I love you," Elliot called after her. "Love you, dad."

!-At the station, the following day

"Kristyn will be charged as an adult," Alex said simply.

Elliot shook his head and Olivia spoke up, "Do you not realize how they'll see her? They'll think she's a sociopath. She shoots her father, and then goes to school like everything is dandy. They'll kill her up there."

"I get that, thanks. I have no control over how she's tried. She's over thirteen."

"It's self-defense! He was going to rape his fourteen-year-old daughter. It shouldn't even be a murder charge! Hell, it shouldn't be anything. MAYBE manslaughter, but you've got to be kidding me that they're slapping a first-degree charge on this. If this was someone that the town knew as abusive, it'd be manslaughter; if this was some poor guy, it'd be manslaughter," Elliot exclaimed, marking Kathleen's words.

"I KNOW. I don't have control over that. I'm not even the prosecutor in this case; why are you talking to me?" Alex wondered.

John looked over his glasses. "Because you have connections. Even I could figure that out. You're getting rusty."

Alex glared at him for a second. "That doesn't mean I can change every case. You just better hope she has a good lawyer; because the prosecutor is known to be tough, and she's tried kids before."

Alex left and Elliot sighed, rubbing his forehead. Cragen appeared.

"We've got that solved; however, it's time to talk to Brandon."

Olivia and Elliot nodded, "We'll take the hint."

When they got to the school, it was after school already. Elliot knew, courtesy of his daughters, the schedule of the football team, because of the many 'oh-my-God' guys.

They went to the fields and Coach Collins saw them. The three approached eachother. "Can I help you? Chuck, get moving out there!" Collins called.

"Um yes, is Brandon Arrington here?" Olivia asked.

"Yep. Can't miss another practice or he's off," Collins explained. "ARRINGTON!" He yelled. Elliot and Olivia stepped back. Two boys ran up, one Brandon and one that they were assuming to be his brother Derek.

"I need Brandon, thanks Derek," Collins said. Derek groaned and was off, running suicides across the field.

"Hey, Brandon. Remember us?" Elliot asked. Brandon took off his helmet, breathing hard, and nodded. He wiped the sweat off his forehead.

"Is Brandon in some kind of trouble?" Collins asked. "No, we just need to ask him a couple of questions. I was wondering, though, if I could please speak to you Coach..." Olivia trailed off, waiting for a name. "Collins; and sure," he said.

He turned to his team and blew the whistle. "Four laps; you got five minutes!" Groans and "you're killin' us" were his only response.

Collins and Olivia went to one bench and Elliot and Brandon head to another.

Olivia turned to Coach Collins. "Have you noticed anything different in Brandon? In the past month or so?" She asked, getting straight to the point. She was tired and she didn't feel like beating around the bush.

Coach thought for a moment, and then looked at her. "Not a big change, but little things. He won't shower with the team; he goes straight home, even after games. He doesn't seem as interested, and he fights a lot now. I just took it as disinterest. Why?"

Olivia wrote some things down and then answered. "We can't actually tell you, but Brandon may have...not told the whole truth about something that happened a few days ago."

Collins appeared deep in thought. "A few days ago...A day before the big game, at Reynolds. He came late, and he was out of breath. The kid was pale, looked as if he had been running a lot. I mean a lot more than we do. He tried participating I guess but then he threw up and ran off the field."

Olivia smiled at him. "Thanks, Coach Collins-" Collins interupted her. "Just call me Paul."

"Okay, thanks Paul. If you think of anything else, please tell us."

Brandon kept his distance from Elliot. "I'm going to get straight to the point. You've probably heard the rumors about Kristyn."

Brandon looked down and nodded, "She killed her dad."

"You know what she told us, Brandon?" Brandon shook his head. "She said that no teacher has ever raped her before. But you were certain that was her. Could you have...made a mistake?" Elliot suggested.

"I didn't make a mistake. I saw what I saw. She's lying."

"No, I don't think she is. I think you are. And if someone was raped, don't you think that person deserves justice?"

Brandon shrugged. "I guess. That's why I came to you, wasn't it?"

"But you didn't tell us who it really was. That wasn't Kristyn in that room."

"The fuck it wasn't. I have practice. Bye, Detective," Brandon sneered and stood up. "Brandon! You need to tell us. What if he does it to someone else?" Brandon turned around. "He won't. He sticks to one per-" Brandon stopped himself. He looked on the verge of tears and turned around, joining the others on the track.

Olivia met up with Elliot. "Thanks for your time, Paul," Olivia said.

"No problem. If I think of something else, I'll go to the station. My buddy works there, so I know where it is." Coach called over his shoulder as he watched the kids run.

Olivia looked at Elliot. "Did he say anything?" she asked.

He shrugged. "Not really. He cut off whenever he came close to saying something. I think he knows that we can't keep saying it was Kristyn. Why would he lie, though? He said it was positive it was her."


	7. Talk

Conceal, Chapter Seven

Sorry I haven't updated in so long. My computer got messed up by one of the hurricanes so I've been stuck on my dad's laptop since early September (and still am, damnit). I haven't trusted my sisters enough to update but I guess I'll just delete it right away. I have a nosey family LOL. Please review! BTW one of my younger sisters just joined. She hasn't written anything yet but if you like Buffy watch out lol. I HATE that show XD her user name is angel16660 or something like that. And her real name isn't Chloe XD

Olivia walked into Casey's office. "Second-degree murder? Are you kidding me?!" She exclaimed, handing Novak the pack of papers outlining the charges being brought on against Kristyn.

Casey sighed. "I'm trying, Olivia."

"Well try harder! If this wasn't self-defense, then what is? He was raping his fourteen-year-old daughter," she said through clenched teeth. "Manslaughter at best."

"I know! God, I know. I don't know how they brought a murder charge into this, but they have. I'm working on it."

Huang sat across from Kristyn. They were in the local juvenile detention center. Kristyn looked gaunt in the orange jumpsuit, despite the fact that she wasn't small by any means. "How are you doing, Kristyn?" He asked. She just shrugged.

"Well let me get straight to the point. Have you heard what you're being charged with?"

She nodded, but surprisingly talked, her voice thick with anguish. "Murder. I'll get life. My dad was perfect. I should've just ran away. I couldn't think. I was tired of...that. I felt so gross everytime. And I didn't know if he was messing with my little brother. I'm sorry."

"Killing your father was wrong, but he was not perfect. He betrayed your trust. Don't think what anyone is telling you. You know the truth. You did the only rational thing that you could think of."

"I hope I do get life."

"Why is that?"

"My brothers won't be able to look at me. My parents are dead. My family'll disown me. If I get out before I'm eighteen they'll just ship me to some foster home."

From outside, Elliot and Olivia were watching the two. "This is insane," Elliot exclaimed. "Shh," Olivia said, "she's talking about something..."

"I did it to because I don't think that I'm the only person my dad was doing that to. He was a substitute teacher at my school sometimes. I think that he may have done it to a couple of other kids there."

Huang looked a little shocked, as did Elliot, Olivia, Munch, Fin and Cragen. "Maybe it's time to talk to Brandon again," Munch said.

I know it's short. I'm a little rusty lol...Please review!


	8. Aaron, Eric and Brandon

CONCEAL, chapter Eight

Hey another chapter. I'm bored. It's just me and my sister ("Angel16660") but my little brother is coming over later. W00t. I dunno where my other sister is o.O XD Please review! Thanks for all the great reviews from last chapter.

It was the weekend, so going to the school was not an option, and waiting for a Monday was useless. They still had the copy of Brandon's school file, so Olivia and Elliot took down Brandon's address while Munch and Fin headed off to talk to Kristyn's two brothers.

142 West Street

Lower Manhattan

Arrington/Brookeshire Residence

Olivia knocked on the door. It was in a much nicer part of town, and twice the size of homes where they usually went. After a moment, a little girl answered. They guessed that it was Kayla Brookshire; Brandon and Derek's six-year-old half-sister. "Hi, sweetie. Is your mommy or daddy here?" Olivia asked. The little girl nodded and walked away, leaving the door open.

Brandon saw them and stomped over to the door. "Mom, Richard, I got it," he screamed and slammed the door.

"Look, you've interviewed me like ten times now. I don't have anything else to tell you. Do you know what they're talking about at school? If someone sees you here...I don't want to be lumped with what's happening, okay? Just please go away!" Brandon yelled.

"Brandon, we know what really happened," Elliot said.

Brandon snorted. "You don't know shit. Go to hell, Detective."

"Brandon, do you care about Kristyn?" Elliot demanded, grabbing his arm. Brandon stiffened.

"I sort of didn't have a choice, now did I?" Brandon demanded. "I walked in that room and I had to care or he would've killed us. I wish he had killed us!" Brandon screamed.

"Brandon, talk to us!" Olivia exclaimed.

"You want me to talk to you? First, you get me away from here. Okay? Then we'll talk," he snapped, motioning towards his house. "I can't let my stepdad hear anything. I can't. He'll kick me out. He has a bad temper and I don't want something that I did to affect my brother or sister."

"I'll take you away to talk, but don't bullshit this, Brandon."

"Look I know about what happened with Kristyn. If it'll help her I'll do it," he said through gritted teeth.

690 Eastern Avenue

Thomaston Children's Home

Munch and Fin sat in separate small rooms. Fin was talking to the younger brother, Eric and Munch to the older boy, Aaron.

Fin watched Eric draw a picture. "What are you drawing?" Fin asked.

"My family," Eric said simply.

"Who all is in your family?"

"It use to be my daddy, my big brother and my big sister."

"Hey, Eric, I have a couple of questions for you. Is it okay if I ask them now?"

Eric nodded.

"Did you ever see your daddy maybe hurt your sister?" He asked. Eric sighed and put the crayon down. "My daddy said I couldn't tell no one, because then we might get separated," he explained.

"Well, Eric, if you tell us we might be able to help your big sister."

"Kristyn?" He asked, smiling. "Could I see her?"

Fin thought. He didn't want to give a little kid false hopes. "We'll see."

"Ooh cool! Well you can't tell anyone what I told you, okay?" He whispered.

"I might have to tell my partner, Mr. Munch and our boss. Is that okay?"

The little boy shrugged and went on.

"One time I heard my sister cryin'. I wanted to make sure she was okay. I went into my daddy's room but he wasn't in there. Then I went into her room and she was crying and my daddy had his hand in the blanket. I asked her if she was okay. He told me to get out. Later he told me I couldn't say anything about what I saw or I'd get in tons of trouble and he might not be able to see me."

Fin rubbed his temples. "Anything else, Eric?"

"Sometimes he got real mad and hit her. Like slapped her. Not spank, like with me. Just a really hard slap."

"Thanks, Eric. You've been a lot of help."

Munch sat across from Aaron. Aaron looked like crap, to put it bluntly. There were bags under his eyes and his hair was ruffled.

"That bitch destroyed my family," he said, smashing his fist against his other hand.

"That bitch was raped by your father," Munch pointed out.

"That's bullshit!" Aaron screamed, as he stood up and threw a chair across the room. "I would know about something like that! She's my baby sister. I wouldn't be able to be around that. I'd know!" He yelled.

"So you never saw anything? No weird bruises?"

"No! I saw bruises on her arm, that she could've gotten anywhere. And yeah I heard her crying sometimes at night but she's a girl! Girls cry all the time!"

"Especially when they're being molested, huh? You knew, Aaron."

"SHUT UP! I didn't know anything! He told me he was just talking with her! He wasn't doing...that! You don't know anything. Go. Leave me and my brother alone!"

Munch didn't say anything else. He stood up and walked out, but not before turning around to tell Aaron something.

"Aaron, when I was your age, there was a little girl. I let her down. Don't let your sister down. There will be a trial. Do not let your sister down," he said softly before turning and walking out.

Please review


	9. The TRUTH from BRANDON

Conceal, chapter NINE

Review please :-) I'll try to update more soon. Actually I don't know if this will be the last chapter or not.

Elliot sat across from Brandon.

"Brandon, I am not kidding you. I don't want to be yanked around anymore. Tell the truth."

"I will! Shut up about it!" Brandon said through clenched teeth.

"The day I came in, the first time when I left the note, earlier that day…It was a regular school day and stuff. Then, I was at my locker and I saw the substitute walking with Kristyn. She looked scared. I just figured she was in trouble. I mean, she doesn't talk to me a lot, but she goofs around a lot in class. I hadn't seen her all day, though. She wasn't in fourth period. I was about to go to practice, but I couldn't find my jacket. I thought I had left it in 5th period, but when I went and checked, he said that it wasn't in there so I went to my 4th period. I walked in and I saw him…He was on top of her! I just stared for a second then I just, yelled out her name. I didn't know what to do. I couldn't just leave. The guy stopped and looked up and said that if I didn't come over to him that he'd kill her…" Brandon stopped talking, the tears streaming down his face.

He was silent. Elliot nodded his head to urge him to go on.

"So I did, because I believed him. He looked so mad and he was so big compared to her, even if she is a little chubby. He told me that if I didn't…" He couldn't say it. "He said that if I didn't screw her right then that he would kill both of us. He even showed me the gun and showed me that it was loaded. I wouldn't, though. He had a knife, too, though and he stuck it towards Kristyn and cut her face a little. I didn't know what to do! I'm sorry!"

"Brandon, whatever happened, it's not your fault, okay? What happened next?"

"I…I did what he told me to. I told her I was sorry. When he said I could leave, I told him he had to let her go, too or I'd tell. Then he just laughed. It sounded so sick, man. He told me that I had just raped her, so if I told on him then he'd just tell on me. I just left. I…I don't know if he kept her in there anymore or not. I got in fourth period next day and I saw her and she looked all beat up, and I ran out the room and just started puking. I'm sorry! I thought that he'd kill her, or kill both of us."

Elliot took a deep breath. "Brandon, it's not your fault. But I need you to do something for me. I'll be right back," he said and stepped out.

Cragen, Olivia, Fin and Munch had congregated in front of the glass. "That sick bastard," Elliot mumbled.

"What are you doing?" Munch asked. "I'm getting a picture of Kristyn's father so that Brandon can identify him."

A few minutes later, Elliot returned and went into the room. He put the folder on the desk, with a picture of Kristyn's father. "Is that him?"

Brandon nodded and looked away. "Where's Kristyn?"

"Um, Brandon. She's in a juvenile delinquency center near here," Elliot told him.

"Why?" Brandon demanded. "She killed her father. That's her father," Elliot said, motioning towards the folder.

"I can't believe her!" Brandon yelled.

"Brandon, calm down. I know-"

"No, you don't know! I told her not to confess! She didn't even do it! I did!" He screamed at Elliot.

one more chapter…


	10. Final ChapterHappy Holidays :D

Conceal, Chapter ten

Last chapter! Please review! I might start a new story soon. I have one plot, but it's just a sub-plot, so I've got to think of one for the main story.

Elliot stared at Brandon. "What'd you say?" He asked, dumbfounded.

"I found out that the bastard in the room that day was her father and I went to her house a couple of mornings later. Her brothers were leaving, and I know her oldest brother because he's on the team. I asked him where his sister was and he told me that their dad was making her stay home, because she was sick. I waited until they were out the building and I knocked on the door. She answered. She had a black eye, and it hadn't been there the day before. Her dad showed up behind her. He just started laughing and saying crap like 'you came back for more?' He was laughing! He grabbed her by the hair and pulled her behind him. I tried to back up, but he grabbed my shirt and pulled me in. He shoved me against the wall."

Brandon stopped, staring off into space.

"He punched me in the stomach, and told me that if I ever told about what happened, he'd kill me and my sister and brother. I knew he was for real because he knew about my family. I just stared at him, because I didn't know how he'd known about my family…Then I remembered that he was a sub, so he had plenty of access to folders. No one would think that Mr. Perfect would do something like that."

Brandon shook his head. "Then what?" Elliot urged.

"Kristin told her dad to let me go. He dropped my shirt and I fell to the floor, because he had punched me really hard. I just laid there because I was trying to get my breath back, but then I heard her crying and I looked up and he had kicked her in the side, and kept kicking her. He kept doing it! He was killing her! I saw a gun-it was just laying there, so I grabbed it and told him the leave her alone. He fucking laughed at me! He stopped kicking her but came closer to me and told me to quit fucking around. I heard it click, and he glared at me and told me to put the gun down, or he'd kick my ass. I told Kristin to leave, and she stared at her dad. She was still scared of him, even though he looked like he was about to piss his pants. I wasn't going to shoot him, I swear! Kristin left out the door and I threw the gun down and told him that I was going to tell about everything. He grabbed me and threw me to the floor and started kicking me."

As if Brandon thought that Elliot didn't believe him, he raised his shirt. Sure enough, there were large bruises on his stomach and chest. "He wouldn't stop, man. He lost his balance for a second and I grabbed his foot and he fell on his face and I shot him. I shot him in the back and then I shot him in the head twice. I didn't-I wasn't going to, but could I do? What could I do?"

"Brandon, what'd you do then?"

"I took a plain red shirt from Aaron's room, then went outside, and ditched my shirt in the alley. Then I went to school. When we were changing classes, I told Kristyn that I had done it and for her not to say anything. She said that she would say that she did it but I told her that she better not."

Elliot and Brandon sat for a moment in silence, Brandon still breathing hard. "Ahh, Brandon," Elliot started, clearing his throat. I need you to write your confession down, okay?" Elliot said. He handed Brandon a pen and a pad of paper, then left the room.

"I guess we can tell Aaron, Eric and Kristyn the good news," Olivia mumbled.

"It's not good news to Kristyn," Elliot said, shaking his head. "That bastard ruined her life. Her father ruined her life."

"She didn't kill him, though. Once we tell Aaron and Eric-"

"Yeah, once we tell Aaron and Eric that Kristyn didn't kill their father, Aaron will still blame her. And none of her family will be able to look at her again."

It was the cold, hard truth that Elliot had grown accustomed to-but it never made it easier. Once you solved a child abuse case, there was always the after-effect. Kristyn had no family that was willing to take her.

Elliot went to the room that they had Kristyn in. "Hey, Kristyn," he greeted her.

"Hi," she said.

"Well, you can go," he told her, trying to sound enthusiastic.

"Yeah, I know. Brandon confessed. But go where, exactly? They're sending me to some foster home. Some family member that I didn't even know about is adopting Eric and Aaron. And here I am," she said, motioning around the room. She had a plastic bag that she was putting her stuff in.

"Keep your head up, Kristyn."

"You know, I wish I hadn't left that room and Brandon had accidently shot me. I really do," she said, not looking at him.

"Kristyn, don't say that-" Elliot started, but he heard someone knock on the door. "One minute, okay?" He told Kristyn.

He walked out, and saw Munch.

"I tracked down a Ms. Dawn E. Clark," he said, "Whom is Kristyn's biological mother. She wants her kids," Munch said, smiling at Elliot.

"Did you ask her why she left in the first place?" Elliot asked. He didn't know why he asked; it was just the first thing that popped into his head.

"He became abusive towards her, but he was always great towards the kids. She suggested leaving to the kids one day and they all protested, so she left. She saw it on the news."

Elliot grinned at him and opened the door to tell Kristyn the good news.

She had been standing behind the door, listening. Her eyes were gleaming with tears. "My mom is here?" She asked. Elliot nodded. Tears began streaming down her cheeks.

Elliot got down on his knees, and pulled Kristyn into a hug.

"Everything's going to be okay from now on. I promise."

How'd you like it? Please review!


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